if we permit our economy to drift and decline, the vulnerable will suffer most. we must live up to the calling we share. civility is not a tactic or a sentiment. it is the determined choice of trust over cynicism, of community over chaos. and this commitment, if we keep it, is a way to shared accomplishment. america, at its best, is also courageous. our national courage has been clear in times of depression and war, when defending common dangers defined our common good. now we must choose if the example of our fathers and mothers will inspire us or condemn us. we must show courage in a time of blessing by confronting problems instead of passing them on to future generations. together, we will reclaim america's schools, before ignorance and apathy claim more young lives. we will reform social security and medicare, sparing our children from struggles we have the power to prevent. and we will reduce taxes, to recover the momentum of our economy and reward the effort and enterprise of working americans. we will build our defenses beyond challenge, lest weakness invi